Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-12-02
"REMINISCENCES OF PUEBLO MEN.
Iy BEN: PEN, NY MOORE

IY BEN: PERAEY ysoRE,
Alexander Fl. Stephens, of Georgia,
nand negro man named Henry. Who
was very fond of .possum hunting-a
perfect NimroA in that line. Having.
as usual, gone out for that purpose, il
was not long before his dogs struck
track and soon freed. The hunter.
having arrived at'tke tree, deliberately
laid down mis- torch. and drawing his
ak from his shoulder, eager for the
Basae, began laying on to tell it. He
had not given more than one or two
CUTS, when, to his CONSERVATION, he
heard yolce from above, saying: aft
you won't let the dogs bite me, I'll
come down and liolp you cut the tree
down." Thu>e.erstr1ck and amazed,
the huntsman dropped his ak, and
made double-qniclz time for home. It
tusned out ill the sequel that another
negro, a runaway, hearing the dogs,
seok to tree, and the possum was
'1n another about ten feet off; the
runaway seeing no other person but
the hunter come up, volunteered his
services to help him. But Nimrod
thought the "varmint" was entirely too
ohliging, or CHAR was ghost some
whar about"
Abraham Lincoln was on one occa-
SION trying case in Sangamon County,
Illinois. against very able lawyer,
VINO made such convincing speech to
the jury that Mr.. Lincoln saw that it had
produced on impression. The gentle
man was not only precise in has oratory
but in his dress, and Mr. Lincoln SOW
q flaw in his usually faultless attire.
I'"Gentlemen of the jury" said "Old
Abe" when he arose to speak, "the
gentleman who has just spoken has
made strong argument. He has
quoted the law and evidence, and it is
not for ME to say that he is wrong. He
may be correct in all that he has said
But want you to take good look at
him. Look especially at the upper
half, and tken, gentlemen, tell me if
any man who comes before you with
his standing collar buttoned wrong end
to, with the points sticking away out
behind the ears, may not be altogether
mistaken i'll his arguments" The plan
was successful. Mr.. Lincoln had
broken the spell which the eloquence
of his opponent had thrown over the
jury.
Ben Hill created u sensation al
Washington when he admitted that
forty-two ex-Confederates pledged
themselves to each other several weeks
before the Wormley conference to see
that the count for President was le-
gally concluded, and that they did this
to avert civil war. The plans and
the movements of the Tilden Demo-
Gratis, most of whom were from the
North, were thoroughly understood by
Southern Democrats to be revolutions
airy, and to involve anarchy and fight
ing. The record OF the yeas and nays
on all tillbustering votes, and others
looking solely to delay in the count,
bore ont the statement of Senator
Hill. 1t will be remembered that
about the number of Democrats named
stood together for at least two weeks
before the Wormley Hotel conference
in resisting every motion that was
essentially one of delay, and that just
about the same notwithstanding vote
followed the date OF that conference.
AS squad of Confederate prisoners
was being marched from the steamboat
wharf to the Old Capitol prison to.
ward the close OF the war they gazed
at menagerie procession that they
met with great interest. Finally the
gigantic elephant Hannibal" came
along, directed by his keeper, young
man mounted on horseback. "Hi!''
exclaimed one of the boys in gray
"Them uns makes me think of Rich
mond last winter, when old Humphrey
Marshall and Alex Stephens used to go
about like that ere ELEPHANT and its
keeper. AS Marshall weighed over
300 pounds and Mr.. Stephens less than
100 pounds, the comparison was good.
It is related, and, 1 am inclined to
think, truthfully. that John P. Hale
once said to Mr.. Stephens: "Why,
Stephens, if you don't look out 1 will
swallow you" eff You do, replied the
Georgian, "you will have more brains
in your body than you ever had in your
head"
When the Woman Suffrage conven-
ton met in Washington in the winter
of 1879, they called on President Hayes
and presented resolutions adopted at
the convention, following up with ar.
guments in their favor. The President
listened attentively until they had
finished, and then asked them il they
would not like to see Mrs. Hayes.
They assented, and the President asked
Mrs. Hayes to show them the White
House, which she did. taking the ladies
to the nursery, kitchen, and through
all the chambers, pointing out the
methods of housekeeping, and asking
their opinions upon domestic subjects.
The ladies expressed qualification at
Mrs. Hayes kindness, but carried an
impression that they had been trihed
with. Information about housekeeping
was not what they were after.
President Taylor was probably the
only President to whom the presidency
was an uncoveted and unsought-for
boon. Mrs. Taylor was SO averse to
public life that it was said she prayed
every night during his candidacy for
his defeat, and when told of his cleo
ton, said: "Why could they not let us
alone? we are 50 happy here. Why do
they want to drag us to Washington"
Who that ever saw Gen. Taylor at q
levee could forget him? He grasped
every newcomer cordially by the hand,
and saluted all, high and low, old
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